Weapon Rail Attachment

ABSTRACT

A weapon mount that integrates a Picatinny style weapon mount and a hook and loop attachment surface to quickly and securely affix weapon accessories to the accessory rail of a weapon using hook and loop fasteners. The mount is constructed of a light weight resilient material that allows the mount to be press fit upon a standard Picatinny rail. The weapon mount has a molded body having a flat top platform and an integral pair of opposed clamp members. The mount also includes a patch of hook fasteners bonded to the outer surface of the top platform.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/875,441 filed Sep. 9, 2013, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

This invention relates to weapon attachment, and in particular a weaponrail attachment that mounts to Picatinny style accessory rails andallows weapon accessories to be securely mounted to a weapon using hookand loop fasteners.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Picatinny style tactical rails and mounts (United States Militarystandard MIL-STD-1913) provide a standardized platform for affixingweapon accessories, such as optics, laser, lights, hand grips and stopsto small arms, such as rifles, shotguns, pistols and other weaponsystems. Picatinny rails are mounted or machined into the weapon bodyand generally consist of an elongated series of ridges with a T-shapedcross-section interspersed with flat “spacing slots.” Weapon accessoriesare clamped directly to the rails or affixed to special “Weaver” stylemounts, which are clamped to the rail with bolts, thumbscrews or levers.

The weapon mount of the present invention integrates a Picatinny styleweapon mount connection mechanism with a hook and loop attachmentsurface. The weapon mount allows weapon accessories, such as light andlazer switch pads and other items to be quick and securely affix toPicatinny style accessory rails using hook and loop fasteners. The mountis constructed of a light weight resilient material that allows themount to be press fit upon a standard Picatinny rail. The weapon mounthas a molded body having a flat top platform and an integral pair ofopposed clamp members. The mount also includes a patch of hook fastenersbonded to the outer surface of the top platform.

The above described features and advantages, as well as others, willbecome more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art byreference to the following detailed description and accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may take form in various system and methodcomponents and arrangement of system and method components. The drawingsare only for purposes of illustrating exemplary embodiments and are notto be construed as limiting the invention. The drawings illustrate thepresent invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the weapon mount of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the weapon mount of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the weapon mount of FIG. 1 affixed toa typical Picatinny rail;

FIG. 4 is an end sectional view of the weapon mount of FIG. 1 beingfitted over a typical Picatinny rail; and

FIG. 5 is an end sectional view of the weapon mount of FIG. 1 and thePicatinny rail taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof,and in which is shown by way of illustration specific preferredembodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodimentsare described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention, and it is understood that other embodiments maybe utilized and that logical, structural, mechanical, electrical, andchemical changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scopeof the invention. To avoid detail not necessary to enable those skilledin the art to practice the invention, the description may omit certaininformation known to those skilled in the art. The following detaileddescription is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and thescope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-5 illustrate an embodiment of theweapon mount of this invention, which is designated generally asreference numeral 100. As shown if FIGS. 3-5, weapon mount 100detachably mounts to a weapon's accessory rail 10. For simplicity ofillustration and explanation only, weapon mount 100 is designed andintended for use on a conventional Picatinny style (United StatesMilitary standard MIL-STD-1913) accessory rail. However, it should beunderstood that the teachings of this invention may be modified oradapted so that weapon mount 100 will mount to any style or type ofaccessory rail or mounting system and may be adapted for any weaponsystem as desired. Rail 10 includes an elongated flat rail body having aseries of mounting projections 12 with evenly spaced transverse slots 13therebetween to provide for selective location of the variousaccessories. Each of the mounting projections 12 has a flat top mountingsurface and opposite transverse edges that are beveled to form a “dovetail” cross sectional profile with proximal (top) inclined surfaces 15,which are generally outward facing, and distal (bottom) inclinedsurfaces 17 which are inward facing.

Weapon mount 100 has a body that is molded or formed from a light-weightpolymer or rubber material. The body of weapon mount 100 is configuredto have a substantially flat top platform 112, a pair of parallelopposed clamp members 114 integrally extending from the bottom of theplatform, and an integral stop block 116 extending from the bottom ofthe platform between the clamp members. A patch of hook fasteners 118 isbonded to the top surface of platform 112 by an adhesive or otherwisefrom therein. Each clamp member 114 has a pair of angled inner contactfaces 115 and 117, which correspond to and abut against the inclinedfaces of the mounting projection 12 of rail 10 to secure weapon mount100 to rail 110. Stop block is configured and dimensioned to seat withinspaces 13 between rail projection 12, which prevents the weapon mount100 when affixed to rail 12 from sliding laterally along the rail. Asshown in FIG. 4, the body of weapon mount 100 is sufficiently resilientand pliable to allow the body to affix to the rail 10 in a snap fitconnection. To affix weapon mount 100 to rail 10, the sides of platform112 are manually bent upward spreading clamp members 114 apart so thatthe body of weapon mount 100 can be pressed over rail 10. Once seatedover rail 12, manual pressure is released, the body of weapon mount 100returns to its original form compressing clamping members 114 againstthe sides of rail 10 to secure weapon mount 100 in place. It should benoted that the loop fasteners affixed to the top of the weapon mount maybe configured and dimensioned to suit any particular application orpurpose. Furthermore, the top loop fastener surface may be optimallyoriented with respect to rail 10 to conveniently position any desiredaccessory secured to the surface.

In alternative embodiments, the weapon mount may be constructed of adurable metal, such as aluminum or steel and use conventional weaverstyle mounting mechanisms to secure the mount to rail 10 as desired. Theuse of steel and other ferrous metals allows the use of magnets to quicksecure accessories to the rails. The weapon mounts need only beconstructed partially of a ferrous metal to employ the use of a magneticconnection, consequently, metal inserts may be molded in the polymer ornon-ferrous mounts in certain embodiments.

One skilled in the art will note that the weapon mount of this inventioncan be connected to a Picatinny rail without tools or additionalfasteners. The body of the weapon mount is constructed of a pliablematerial that allows a press fit style connection to the rail. The topsurface of the weapon mount is covered with hook fastening material,which allows the connection of other weapon accessories using loopfastening material. The integration of a rail mount with hook and loopfasteners allows the connection and use of small and light weaponaccessories without the additional bulk and weight of conventional railmount attachments and mechanisms.

It should be apparent from the foregoing that an invention havingsignificant advantages has been provided. While the invention is shownin only a few of its forms, it is not just limited but is susceptible tovarious changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof. It is presented to explain the invention so that others skilledin the art might utilize its teachings. The embodiment of the presentinvention may be modified within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A weapon mount for detachable connection to an accessoryrail member, the weapon mount comprising: a mount body including asubstantially flat platform having a top surface and a bottom surface, apair of opposed clamp members integrally extending from the bottomsurface of the platform and adapted to restrictively engage theaccessory rail, the mount body constructed of a resilient pliablematerial so that the platform can be manually deformed to spread thepair of opposed clamp members apart from one another to facilitatedisengaging the weapon mount from the accessory rail, and one of a hookfastener material and loop fastener material covering the top surface ofthe platform.
 2. A weapon mount for detachable connection to anaccessory rail member having a plurality of evenly spaced mountingprojections therebetween, and each of the plurality of spaced mountingprojections having opposed angled sidewalls, the weapon mountcomprising: a mount body including a substantially flat platform havinga top surface and a bottom surface, a pair of opposed clamp membersintegrally extending from the bottom surface of the platform and adaptedto restrictively engage the accessory rail, the mount body constructedof a resilient pliable material so that the platform can be manuallydeformed to spread the pair of opposed clamp members apart from oneanother to facilitate disengaging the weapon mount from the accessoryrail, each of the pair of opposed clamp members has an angled innersurface configured to abut against the opposed angled sidewalls of therail member when the mount is connected to the rail member; and one of ahook fastener material and loop fastener material covering the topsurface of the platform.
 3. The weapon mount of claim 2 wherein themount body also includes a stop block extending from the bottom surfaceand configured to seat between adjacent ones of the plurality of spacedmounting projections.